Lars Martin Kaupang (born 18 August 1952) is a Norwegian middle distance runner. He specialized in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

, in which he held the Norwegian record from 1976 to 2012. He hailed from

Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...

and was discovered in school by teacher, coach and former runner

Tor Torgersen Tor Torgersen (20 March 1928 – 23 October 2020) was a Norwegian long-distance runner. He specialized in the longest track distances, 5000 metres, 5000 and 10,000 metres, as well as cross-country running and from around 1960 the marathon, ...

. He represented the club

Larvik TIF Larvik Turn & Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club that does football, handball, athletics, wrestling, and gymnastics. The club was founded as early as 1865, and has been playing football since 1906. The football team was at its best durin ...

; for some time the short-lived cooperation club Larvik FIK. Internationally he participated at the 1974 European Championships and the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

without reaching the final. He had a rather short career pinnacle, only winning three Norwegian championship medals; the gold in the 1500 metres in 1974, 1975 and 1976. His personal best times were 1:49.8 minutes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

(1976), 3:37.4 in the 1500 metres (1976) and 3:59.9 in the

mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

(1974). His 1500 metres time was a Norwegian record until 2012, when it was broken by

Henrik Ingebrigtsen Henrik Ingebrigtsen (born 24 February 1991) is a Norwegian middle-distance runner who competes mainly in the 1500 metres. He represented Norway at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. His younger brothers, Filip Ingebrigtsen and Jakob Ingebrigtsen ...

. In long-distance races he had 8:01.0 in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

(1975) and 13:56.0 in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

(1975). He was a board member of the

Norwegian Athletics Association The Norwegian Athletics Association ( no, Norges Friidrettsforbund, NFIF) is the national governing body for the sport of athletics in Norway, including track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking. The association is a me ...

from 1985 to 1987 and chaired the organization from 1987 to 1997. He was also a member of the

Norwegian Olympic Committee The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports ( no, Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og paralympiske komité; NIF) is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in No ...

from 1990 to 1994.

References

1952 births Living people Sportspeople from Larvik Norwegian male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Norway Norwegian sports executives and administrators {{Norway-athletics-bio-stub